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Germany reports highest number of births in 15 years

The German government has reported a marked increase this year in the number of child births. The good news comes amid growing concern over the country's aging population.

Germany's Federal Statistics Office said on Thursday that more babies were born in the country than any year since 2005, a sign of hope as the country grapples with an increasingly older population.

According to the report, a total of 738,000 children were born in 2015, an increase of about 3.2 percent from the year before.

Europe's biggest economy, Germany has introduced measures to help stem the aging, including new maternity and paternity benefits.

Although the lifetime birth rate per woman rose to 1.47 in 2014 after hitting a record low of 1.25 in 1995, deaths continue to outnumber births in the country. Around 925,000 people died in 2015, an increase of 6.5 percent.

The overall population is continuing to grow, however, with some 83 million people in Germany reported for 2015 thanks to